Methinks I should fully acknowledge that without Half and steady income, homelessness (houselessness? unhousedness?) is a very real possibility.
There was some statistic somewhere that claimed nearly half of Americans are a single paycheck away from the street.
Really? Just one?
Not quite there yet … got some assets to pawn, some goods to hock, some blood to sell, before the pavement beckons but it truly would be only a matter of time.
How very distressing. Whelp, Half likes theKid better than me anyway so, at least, no worries there.
Also, the fastest growing group of homeless in America? Women.
Welcome to equality, ladies.
Kevin Samuels (RIP / GTS) liked facts, data and statistics, and he offered the modern woman (free, independent and grown(groan)) the following info:
You may not need a man but you do need $2.5M in liquid assets by 65 to replace his income.
The average annual income for an American man is roughly $60,000, and women earn about $10,000 less.
The aforementioned foregoing leads me to a thought … Can we really afford to live?
Certainly seems not.
Realistically, most people can still pay for stuff … food, shelter, gas … whether or not they can afford it, but when stuff can no longer be paid for because the money simply is not there, that seems to be the true demarcation line between the haves and housenots.
See, methinks I can pay for stuff … groceries, theKid stuff, petstuff, carstuff (another $700 this month … does it ever endNO!), etcstuff … but can I actually afford any of it?
Probably not.
Because what does that even mean? To afford to pay for something?
Do I have money?
Why, yes.
Should the money I’m using to pay for this thing be used to pay for some other thing?
Why, yes. Of course.
But at what point does money become truly discretionary, rather than just redirected?
$2.5M liquid in a retirement account?
Mortgage paid off?
Zero-degree debt (loans – credit, car, student, child support)?
Do these financial unicorns actually exist?
No, ‘fraid not.
Cash loses its purchasing value ($3 gas in 2020 is not $6 gas in 2022).
Home owners will always owe property taxes, insurance, and maintenance.
Living debt (still need heat/AC [fun fact: heat-related deaths in AZ are mostly among the houseless], water, electricity … not to mention cable/internet, some fun somewhere).
And never forget (better not!) taxes — on every dollar earned, invested, saved, and spent.
Fact is … even if you’re financially savvy, responsible, and prudent … something is going cost you.
Not that giving up on getting out of debt is an alternative— well, actually it is. Anyone can just chuck the whole thing and ride the railroad of the underground economy but that offers its own brand of stress.
Giving up is always harder than making the effort to get it right, whatever it is.
So the message for today? Don’t stress about it. Any of it.
Something in/about life is always going to cost something.
But your greatest debt? Already paid. {Romans 8:18}